Golf drives house prices above par

Figures released by the Registers of Scotland have revealed that properties located close to championship golf courses have rocketed in price over the past six years.

As the world's top golfers battle it out for this year's Open, which began at the Royal St George's Golf Club in Kent on Thursday, RoS figures show that the average price of a home situated within a 12-mile radius of Scotland's five main golf courses is 8,000 higher than the average price for a property in the country as a whole.

The data also shows that during years when major championships are played - such as when St Andrews in Fife hosted the Open in 2005 - property prices rise even more quickly.

"There are a few small towns in the east of Scotland, near Carnoustie, for example, where the prices are much higher than the Scottish average, or than similar towns elsewhere," said Fiona Burns, of RoS, which keeps a record of all Scottish house prices. "Obviously we can't prove that this has anything to do with the golf, but it does seem likely."

It is thought that buy-to-let investors hoping to cash in during Open week, when properties can be rented to wealthy golf fans for thousands of pounds a week, combined with demand from wealthy retirees who want to spend their golden years with easy access to a championship course, have pushed prices higher,

Even in comparison to other coastal towns, which are popular places to live, the figures show that golf course towns command a property premium. "All of the Scottish championship courses are links courses, which means they are in some way, on the coast," added Burns. "But the ones with the championship golf courses do better, property-wise, than those coastal towns without."

An average property in Carnoustie, St Andrews, Troon, Turnberry and Muirfield currently stands at 163,511 - well above the cost of the average Scottish home of 155,618.

Roddy Maxwell, property manager for Angus at Thorntons Property Services in Arbroath, just eight miles from Carnoustie, said: "There is no question that this is the case. Both people who like golf and those who are not so interested like living near a major course because they know it is a nice area and they will have a nice view.

"Properties which are actually on the links obviously tend to be the most popular - there was one in Carnoustie on the market recently which sold within just two weeks, which is quick in the current market."

Maxwell said that while the buy-to-let market had slowed, even in areas around golf courses, pre-recession, demand for rented properties in golf areas was high.

"It is perhaps not happening quite so much at the moment," he said. "But in a normal market, that would very much be the case. In the months leading up to a big championship, there is a huge demand for property in an area around a championship course. Carnousite definitely experiences that and I know St Andrews does too."

Muirfield in East Lothian is the priciest of the group, boasting an average house price of 218,485 in 2010, while Troon still remains fairly affordable - below the Scottish average of 155,618 at 124,517.

But Rob Trotter, senior property manager at estate agent DJ Alexander, which covers Edinburgh and East Lothian, said home owners were cashing in on the golf tourism mainly if they were unable to sell their own property - rather than buying specifically for that reason.

"I wouldn't say there are too many people in East Lothian who spend money on a property just because of the golf," he said. "But there are more properties coming onto the rental market because people have problems selling and they decide to make some money out of them when there is a big championship on. You often even get people going away during a big tournament and renting their own home out."

Graeme Hartley from the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors Scotland agreed.

"Many golf courses are in good areas and can be attractive holiday destinations, such as St Andrews, which can be desirable for people looking for a holiday home or buy-to-let investment," he said.

"During a major championship quite excellent rental returns can be obtained on short term lets."

St Andrews - the globally recognised "home of golf" - has increased most over the six-year period, but it is thought its popularity was given a boost not only by the increasing interest in golf, but through links to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, who graduated from the town's university in 2005.

"We have a lot of factors, it's not just the golf here, but the university as well," said a spokeswoman for St Andrews estate agent Murray Donald Drummond Cook.

But when the Open was played in St Andrews in 2005, prices in the town rocketed by 14 per cent.

Earlier this year, one of Scotland's most expensive flats was sold in St Andrews, which regularly hosts other major tournaments including the Dunhill Cup and its celebrity hangers-on, The four-bedroom property, which overlooks the 18th green of the historic Old Course, was on the market for 5 million, but eventually sold for 3.1m.

At newly built course Castle Stuart in Inverness-shire, prices have not risen as rapidly in some areas, but the full effect of the course's Championship status have yet to be felt.

It hosted the Scottish Open this year and will continue to do so, despite a washout in its first year. Property prices in the area surrounding the new course remain close to the Scottish average at about 151,597.

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